Should Shatner return in some way in the next film?

No.

 

Is there anything hinting at that? Maybe they didn't feel the story was strong enough - I think a major factor is Shatner's reluctance, be it due to money, the size of the role or suitability.

I'll be honest It's something I'd love if it happened, but there's a part of me just saying 'no', time has passed.

 

He should play Samuel T. Cogley, in a nod to Shatner's role on that lawyer show.

Kor

 

I suspect Orci was removed because he really is a terrible writer.

 

Orci wanted to write and direct a story about Shatner as Kirk Prime (and Nimoy returning as Spock Prime before he died) interacting with Pine and Quinto in a Days of Future Past?/Yesterdays Enterprise?/City on the Edge? style plot which involved the dilemma of to correct the timeline or not (Basically something that sounded more interesting and 'anniversary' than Kirk vs Krall and Co). I suspect the studio didn't want an untried director and orci must've held firm so it all collapsed and they had to start again with a new script (as Orci probably didn't want to proceed as writer only)

 

See that avatar photo directly above mine? It was in STB. That's all the tribute Shatner and the old crew need for these new films. It couldn't have been done any better. Having Shat back now would be completely pointless.

 

Here was the rumoured premise of Orci's Star Trek XIII:

Here's a scene written for Shatner from the 2009 movie:

 

This. Exactly this. Let Star Trek move on for crying out loud!

 

no.

 

In short: no.

Star Trek Beyond gave us a nice tribute and farewell to the original crew with the photo. Those characters now belong to this new cast until the next one replaces them.

 

While we'll likely not know the full story for a long time if ever, I suspect Nimoy's failing health was chief of the reasons for Orci's ST3 script being dropped.

 

Jack Sagittarius: Half man, half horse's ass.

 

I hope the full synopsis of that draft could be revealed some day - maybe IDW could do it as a comic?

 

no no no

 

"The Federation, Vulcans and a new alien would have been fighting over a time travel device - the Vulcans wanted to use it to go back and save their planet.
[Shatner’s] scene will have him meeting Chris Pine. Also in that scene: Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy…it’ll be future alt-timeline Kirk and Spock. Basically the scene will have Kirk and Spock interacting with their future selves.

"Vulcans wanted to use it to come back and save their planet." It does not make sense to go back in time and save the planet (in J.J. Abrams movies). Star Trek 09 suggests that an alternate reality was created in a temporal incursion. It would not be possible to reinstate the Prime timeline.
Just as some believe that George Kirk's appearance in ST4 would be to erase Kelvin timeline.

 

That's actually really good. I always assumed it would be high cheese. But that's really good.

 

If the next film is a time travel story (somehow it involves Kirk’s father) why not throw Shatner in if it can be done in a somewhat logical way?

The last film was a flop at the box office compared to the previous two films. What better way to bring positive media attention to the film than to bring Shatner in? The media would eat it up. Even if Shatner is in one scene it would buy loads of goodwill for the movie.

And if this is to be the last film (i assume the box office will have to improve for them to continue) why not end the series with one of the actors who started it all?

Bringing back Shatner is a no brainer.

 

When it was rumoured that Shatner & Nimoy would return as older NuKirk and Spock i literally imagined them wearing these uniforms, designed pre-2009 for Jeremy Grunloh's fan fiction reboot:

 

Shatner has had two curtain calls already, in THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY and GENERATIONS. And we had that photo as a nostalgic 50th Anniversary tribute in BEYOND.

That's enough, I think.

 

Agreed. Spock was something of a narrative necessity in "Star Trek" and I did like the small "memorial" sequences in Beyond, but I think that the new crew needs to have their own adventures without constant cameos of the original actors. They've been done well to date, but I also find that they pull you out of the moment and you tend to be saying "Hey, there's Shatner, etc." rather than being engrossed in the story. (As a side note, I found this to also be true in Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet." The films would have been much better without cameos from Robin Williams, and Jack Lemmon. Their acting was fine, but the very presence of these actors in bit roles was jarring.)